Police try to clear an area where an explosion occurred at the beginning of the inauguration ceremony for President Alvaro Uribe in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002. Explosions rocked Bogota and the presidential palace before and after the inauguration Wednesday of Uribe.(AP Photo/Juan Herrera) less

Police try to clear an area where an explosion occurred at the beginning of the inauguration ceremony for President Alvaro Uribe in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002. Explosions rocked Bogota and the ... more

Photo: JUAN HERRERA

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Outgoing President Andres Pastrana, left, shakes the hand of new Colombian President Alvaro Uribe after his inauguration ceremony in Bogota, Colombia Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002. At center are former first lady Nohra Puyana, left, and new first lady Lina Moreno. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) less

Outgoing President Andres Pastrana, left, shakes the hand of new Colombian President Alvaro Uribe after his inauguration ceremony in Bogota, Colombia Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002. At center are former first lady ... more

2002-08-08 04:00:00 PDT Bogota, Colombia -- In an attack blamed on leftist rebels, mortar shells rained down on Colombia's presidential palace and downtown neighborhoods Wednesday just moments before Alvaro Uribe, who has vowed to crush the guerrillas, took the oath of office as president nearby.

Uribe swore before the nation's Congress to restore order to the war-torn nation, apparently unaware that several blasts had just rocked downtown Bogota,

killing at least 14 and wounding 69.

Neither Uribe nor any of the dozens of heads of state and diplomats attending the ceremony were injured. The U.S. delegation was headed by Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and Ambassador Anne Patterson.

The attacks were a terrifying demonstration of how Colombia's internal conflict, which pits leftist guerrillas against the army and right-wing paramilitaries, is escalating. The explosions also gave a stark indication of the guerrillas' power and a signal of dark days ahead for Colombia, a nation racked by deepening anarchy, war and drug trafficking.

The United States has become increasingly involved in the conflict, with Congress recently voting to allow military equipment previously devoted to combatting drugs to be used in battle against the rebels. Bush administration officials have promised that no ground troops will be sent to Colombia, though military trainers are already in place.

Colombia has received nearly $2 billion over the past several years from the United States, mostly to combat drug trafficking. Colombia produces 90 percent of the cocaine sold on U.S. streets.

Wednesday's blasts brought the conflict to the capital. Bleeding soldiers ran through the streets in the minutes after the explosions, and air force jets and military helicopters thundered overhead. Bodies lay twisted in rubble.

Most of the dead, including three children, were killed in a slum neighborhood about 800 yards from the palace. Some buildings were left with gaping holes.

Uribe urged an end to the country's 40-year-old internal conflict as ambulances and army soldiers rushed to scenes of destruction a few blocks away.

"Our idea of democratic security requires that we work to provide effective protection to all members of the public," he said. "A whole nation is crying out for respite and security."

After the inauguration, Uribe left Congress and was immediately met on the steps by top generals. As the nation watched on television, he calmly received news of the attacks in his first emergency security council meeting.

Only hours later, he delivered a proposed referendum to Congress, seeking greater powers for the executive branch to deal with the country's escalating conflict.

The rebels have recently launched an all-out war against the symbols of South America's oldest democracy, threatening mayors, congressmen and now the president himself.

Thanks to profits from the drug trade, the guerrillas have grown dramatically over the past decade to a force of some 17,000 troops. In the past, battles were mostly confined to the countryside. But as Wednesday's attacks show, the FARC has increasingly brought the war into the city, launching a wave of urban bombings in recent months.

"This shows the type of conflict we have and the challenges we are facing," said Sen. Antonio Navarro, who, like many others inside, initially believed that the blasts were part of a 21-gun salute to the new president.

The mortar attack -- apparently launched from a home in the impoverished Cartucho neighborhood less than half a mile west of the palace -- took place despite strict security measures.

More than 200,000 police and soldiers patrolled the nation's streets, including 12,000 police officers in Bogota alone. Some 25 square blocks around the presidential palace were closed off, all air traffic was shut down, and a U.S. spy plane watched from the skies above.

At least one of the mortar shells apparently went astray, landing five blocks away from the presidential palace, killing 11 people, most of them believed to be homeless. Three presidential guards were injured when other shells landed in an entrance to the presidential palace leading to an underground garage. The palace sustained light damage.

Police had detained 20 suspects by late Wednesday, but made no arrests. At least 98 other homemade grenades were reported discovered in the home from which the mortars were apparently fired.

Henry Baron said he had been sleeping in a homeless shelter when he was awakened by a blast and saw a head roll by him. The area around the shelter was covered with blood. Many of the dead were apparently killed while gathered around a common television, watching the inauguration ceremony.

SOLDIERS STONED

Army troops quickly sealed off the neighborhood after the explosions. The government has been tearing down shanties in Cartucho in recent months as part of an urban renewal program, and resentment against authorities has been running high. Some residents threw rocks at the soldiers, while others wept.

"There's no escaping poverty or violence," said a man who identified himself only as Jose. A woman standing next to him sobbed, saying her husband had died in the blasts.

Earlier in the day, at least four other bombs exploded around the capital near the nation's military school. Firefights with the rebels erupted throughout the country.

Uribe, who survived a previous assassination attempt while campaigning in April, was elected in May largely on his promise to crack down on the leftist rebels, who have terrorized the country with kidnappings and attacks on towns in which civilians often are killed. Uribe's father was killed by guerrillas in 1983.

In his inaugural address Wednesday, Uribe told his fellow countrymen not to expect dramatic solutions to the many problems that afflict the nation of 40 million people.

He ticked off a list of misery: unemployment at 16 percent, half the nation in poverty, half the world's reported kidnappings and some 34,000 killings a year.